This week was one of the fastest that has ever passed in my entire life. I could swear that I was just sitting and typing to you from Lake Chelan. The week in Chelan and Seattle was marvelous, though. La.
So, in Chelan, we first took the ferry up the lake (it's fifty miles long, so I read yet another book on the ferry ride there and back) to a town called Stehekin, which can only be accessed by boat. It's small, quaint, piney, and perfect. Oh, my. It's really quite a stunning place, Washington. I can't imagine anyone going there and not falling hopelessly in love. Unless, of course, they lack a soul or similarly crucial element of humanity. We hiked around Stehekin and got too much pastry and salad and chicken-bacon-feta confections (yeah, that thing was one of the best I've ever tasted) at the local bakery. Serious. It's so pretty. Then Heather and I played around in the lake all day Tuesday, and commented on how we essentially act like ten-year-olds when we're together. Hahaha. We got out goggles - which will always make all human beings look like enormous dorks - and dove for rings in the shallow (read: between six and twelve feet deep) place behind the dock, we took turns leaping into the lake into the most exotic fashions we could and did some Olympic gymnast presenting for our dives, because that just seemed necessary. We painted our toenails on the dock, I threatened to shove her in (and should have, it would have been funny) when she was being a pansy about how cold the water was, and really, it was just awesome. We then proceeded to take the jet skis out, and Heather let me drive.
Mwahaha.
I'm rather more reckless on jet-skis than any other motorized vehicle, and it's really easy to make Heather freak out. Well, not really, but she squeals loudly, which is entertaining. I was flipping lots of donuts and seeing how fast I dared crank it to and generally being entertaining. At some point in there, I started singing Call Me, Maybe. I really don't know why. In a magnificent moment that was criminally not preserved for posterity, I was singing at the top of my lungs while turning into a rather hastily accelerated donut, and somewhere in the middle of "Before you came into my life, I-", we were forcibly thrown from the jet-ski, head over life jacket, in what I'm fairly certain is one of the most entertaining moments of my life.
There was also a really long political discussion amongst my family, as Dan posted a picture of him with Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney on the facebook page for his barefoot shoe company, and got plenty of seriously negative backlash. The people who were respectful enough to write things such as "You can support whoever you like, and I will choose to use my money elsewhere," have my full support. I'm totally on board with that. It's the people who were full of, "the founder is a brain dead tool," "moron," "hates women and should be ashamed of himself" with whom I take umbrage. Dude, where is it written that disagreeing without vitriol is not allowed in politics? I hate that attitude. Disagree like a grownup, and for heaven's sake, stop extrapolating to the lowest common denominator. Come on.
"Tell me, Kristen - what is it you want in life and how do you see yourself?"
Let's reverse these, because that's more fun. And this is going to be some very very candid things from me, which in this case means it's going to sound arrogant. Bear with me.
How do I see myself...I see myself as someone who loves, above all else. Imperfectly, unfortunately, but still. And we're not just talking about people. Quotes from Chris, "It's kind of hilarious, really, you love...like...everything. Music, movies, people, food, nature, driving, anything. You love it all." I will maintain until the end of time that I'm happier because so much makes me happy. The more people you love, the more people in your life who make you happy. Ditto everything else.
As for the rest, I could quite narcissistically go on about myself for ages at a time, but I'll be brief. I feel like I'm an unusual combination of a lot of things. I'm driven, sarcastic, musical, tough, and have a strong religious center. I'm content being single, have incredible friends, crack plenty of jokes - witty and off-color alike, enjoy biting off a snappy comeback with a smile, am occasionally wise, and have been told by a remarkable number of friends and family this summer that I can be counted upon to make smart, well-reasoned decisions.
There's a line in that Carrie Underwood song, from the Enchanted soundtrack - "you just might wind up being glad to be you."
Quite honestly, the first time I really listened to that line sometime in high school, I cried. Because I frankly couldn't imagine what that was like. However, the arrogance that I've been cultivating since you've been gone has come with a sense of appreciation for who I am. I regularly feel like the luckiest girl in the world. It's hard to imagine people having it much better than me. Life is not a contest, and there are plenty of people prettier, smarter, wittier, more talented, whathaveyou. In the last two years, however, I've found a magical ability to see other people with their talents so clearly outshining mine and still be very, very happy about who I am (usually). Indeed, to know that I'm exactly who I'm supposed to be, having exactly the experiences I'm supposed to have. There's a contentment that wasn't here before.
What do I want from life... I want other people to feel that contentment and happiness that I feel. I want to help people reach their potential, because in exploring my own, I've already been astounded at what I'm capable of. In a year, I'll have a diploma in chemical engineering. I can't tell you how insane it is to know that I pulled through this, and even acquitted myself well in so doing. I want to help people be happy like I'm happy, to be happy because they are capable of unlocking their own greatness, and in turn, to help others.
Up to proofread, down to bed :)
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